Load handling apparatus



LOAD HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 2l, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedMar. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application August 21, 1935,Serial No. 37,256 In France May 24, 1935 5 Claims.

, contact with the platform adapted to receive it.

The apparatus is essentially constituted by a 'beam on the ends of whichcan be hooked members pivoted on Iarms which can be journalled on a shoemember supporting the load. The said members or hooks are provided withweights causing them to rotate about their pivot pins as soon as theWeight of the load is no longer eX- erted on the same, so as to movesaid pivot pins apart in order that they should no longer be oppositethe ends of the beam, thus allowing said arms carrying them, to movedown on to the shoe member and to release the load from its suspensiondevice.

This apparatus is particularly applicable to life boats in which thedisengagement of the suspension cables must take place simultaneouslyand positively when the life boat or one of its ends touches the water,in order that the passengers should be in safety and to avoid adangerous inclination of the life boat. For that purpose, use is made oftwo apparatus, one arranged at the front, the other at the rear.

A safety device holds the disengaging apparatus stationary duringhandling or manipulation for avoiding any accidental working of theapparatus.

The hooks can be disengaged by hand or automatically when the life boatcomes in contact with the water, these hooks being connected together bya suitable connection.

The accompanying drawings illustrate, by way of example only, a form ofcarrying the invention into practice.

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a handling apparatus.

Figs. 2 and 3 are an elevation and a plan view, respectively, showing ahorizontal apparatus for automatically disengaging apparatus forhandling life boats.

Figs. 4 and 5 are an elevation and a plan View, respectively, showing avertical disengaging apparatus.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 s how the various phases of operation of the apparatus.

The handling apparatus, according to the invention, is constituted by abeam I, terminating at each end in a shoulder 2. This beam I can beprovided With a yoke 3, pivoted about a pivot pin 4, and attached to theen-d of a suspension cable 3a by any suitable means.

The shoulders 2 are engaged by members or hooks 5, pivoted about pivotpins 6 and provided with weights 7 causing them to rock for releasingthe shoulders 2 when a vertical pull is not eX- erted on the same. Thepivot pins 6 are arranged in the ends of arms 8 which are pivoted,through pivot pins 9, on a Shoe member Il which can be secured on thedeck I I of a life boat by lugs I2.

The handling -device applied to a life boat is composed of two similarapparatus, one being secured at the front, the other at the rear, andcapable of being adapted to the usual suspension system.

Small safety bars I3, pivoted on one of the arms 8, are engaged, throughtheir ends I4 over pins I5 rigid with the opposite arm. These safetybars I3 are adapted to hold the members stationary during manipulationfor preventing any accidental operation of the disengaging system.

When the safety bars I3 are disengaged, the apparatus operatesautomatically when the life boat touches the Water in calm weather,owing to overcoming the vertical action of gravity which exerts itselfon the arms 8 through the medium Vof the shoe member I 0 for holding thehooks 5 over the shoulders 2 of the beam.

When, owing to the otation of the life boat, the action of gravity onhooks 5 is overcome, the Weights 'I becoming preponderant cause them torock about the pivot pins and, consequently, the arms 8 can rotate aboutthe pivot pins 9, thus releasing the beam I.

The rocking movement of the arms 8 is facilitated by the action of pinsI6, carried by the beam and acting on their upper face owing to thehauling down of the suspension cables.

In rough weather, both apparatus of the system described above could notoperate simultaneously, as one of the ends of the life boat might belifted by a Wave, causing the disengaging system to operate at thelifted end, which would give a dangerous inclination to the life boatand might be unsafe for the occupants.

For avoiding this inconvenience, the disengaging systems are united byconnecting devices immediately transmitting the control of one apparatusto the other.

The system connecting the apparatus is suited to the type of life boat;thus, for life boats the central portion of which is free, use can bemade of a horizontal transmission, whilst on other boats, the middleportion of the hold or bilge of which is partly inaccessible, use willbe made of a vertical transmission.

The horizontal transmission is constituted by two apparatus eachcomprising a bar I1, longitudinally arranged relatively to the axis ofthe boat, and the end I8 of which is connected, by a chain ory cable I9,to one of the hooks 5 of the device located at the rear of the lifeboat; this cable I9 is rendered taut by a stretching screw 20. The barI1 is held by guides 2|, secured by lugs 2 la on the bottom of the boat.

The bar I1 is provided with a hook 22 pivoted on a pin 22a. and the ends23 of which can enter a metal sheath or sleeve 24 adapted to hold it inclosed position; this sleeve is provided with two lugs 25 which when thesleeves slide on the bar I1 will engage with an abutment 26, in order torelease the end 23 of the hook 22 for allowing the latter to rock aboutits pivot pin under the action of the pull exerted by the cable 21, uponrelease of the beam located at the front ofthe life boat. This cable isattached to the hook 22 by means of a loop 28.

As above stated, when the beam I of the device located at the front partof the life boat has been released from the hooks owing to the flotationof said front part on a wave, this front portion of the boat, bydescending in the hollow of said wave, will exert a vertical pull on thecable 21, secured on the beam by a fastening member 28a, which willcause the bar I1 to move in its guides by means ofthe hook 22 held inthe sleeve 24. When the lugs of the latter will engage with the abutment26, it will be held stationary, and the bar I1, continuing to beactuated by cable 21, will cause the end of the hook 22 to come out ofthe sleeve 24. This hook 22 being no longer held, will pivot through 180about its pin 22a under the pull of cable 21, this allowing thedisengagement of the loop 28, thus releasing the beam I.

During the first portion of the displacement of bar I1, the cable I9exerts on the weight 1 of the hook 5 to which it is secured, a pullcompelling it to rock about its pivot pin 6, thus releasing one of theshoulders of the beam of the rear device. The beam being no longerbalanced, will rock on its pivot pin 4, releasing vthe second hook 5.The rear of the life boat being no longer supported by the suspensioncable, comes in contact with the water by stretching the cable 21, con*necting the beam I to the second bar I1 for causing the hook 22 to rockand thus releasing the rear beam.

The life boat being released can move away, and the beams can serve fora second operation.

It is to be noted that the life boat being disengaged from its frontdevice will have a nondangerous inclination, limited to a fewcentimeters, the rear device operating nearly simultaneously, owing tothe transmission above described.

The device indicated is not applicable to launches for instance, as themiddle portion of the hold of these boats is very often inaccessible.For these boats, it is therefore necessary to arrange the apparatusvertically at the front and at the rear and perpendicularly to the shoemembers.

Each device is constituted by a carriage 29 provided with rollers 30 andwith a lug 3|. The carriage 29 is adapted for movement vertically in aframe 32, constituted by a channel member provided with a bed plate 33secured to the bottom of the boat and attached to the deck by its upperpart.

A track 34, also constituted by a channel mem- D ber, is secured on thebed plate 33, opposite the frame 32 and parallel to the latter; thistrack 34 is adapted to hold the tripping device carried by carriage 29in such a position that the cable 21 of the beam I remains attached byits loop on a nger 35, arranged in an opening 33 formed in a lever 31pivoted about a pin 38 carried by a carriage 29.

The end of the lever 31 terminates in a for member carrying a roller 39,which will roll on track 34 upon disengagement of the device.

The carriage is connected, by a cable I9, to one of the hooks of theopposite device. This cable I9 is attached to the lower part of thecarriage 29 and is guided by pulleys 40. Throughout the length of theboat, this cable is guided in a tube secured on the framing of the boat.

The operation of this device is similar to that previously described.

When the front beam a for instance (Fig. '1) is freed from the hooks,under the action of `the waves the mass ofthe boat exerts a pull onthestationary cable 21, thus compelling the carriage 29 to move in itsframe 32 in the direction indicated by the arrow .'r. The roller 39,arranged at the end of the lever 31, also rolls on its track 34 and whenit reaches the extreme portion (Fig. '1), it slips oi and the lever 31rocks about its pivot, placing the ringer 35 in an approximatelyVertical position. The loop 28 which was placed on this nger leaves it,thus completely releasing the front portion of the boat from itssuspension device. 1

As soon as the carriage 29 begins to move in its frame, the cable I9,attached to its lower part (Fig. 1) acts on the hook 5 of the device b,located at the rear, for disengaging'it from the shoulder 2 andobtaining, by unbalancing of the beam I, the automatic disengagement ofthe sec'- ond hook. The boat being released from its suspensionapparatus, floats, and the carriages 29 fall down their frames (Fig. 8).f

The systems described above allow to very easily launch a boat and itspassengers, whilst eliminating the diflicult operations of disengagingthe suspension cables in rough weather.

They allow:

The automatic disengagement of any heavy weight as soon as the verticalpull of the suspension members ceases to act on the same.

'I'he disengagement, also automatic,`of a weight' v This apparatusensures .safety after each auto-V matic operation of the transmission,AVwhilst `preserving intact the main part of the plant.

It is to be understood that, according to circumstances, use can be madeof one or twosuspension devices and that their shape can Vary as well asn their system of attachment.

I claim:-

1. A suspending and releasing device forAheavy loads such as lifeboats,comprising a suspending cable, a substantially horizontal beam pivotallysecured intermediate its ends to the suspending cable, a pair ofsupporting arms pivotally mounted on the lifeboat, supporting memberspivotally mounted on said arms and adapted to engage under the action ofthe load the ends of v said beam. and counterweghts associated with saidsupporting members and adapted to disengage the latter from said beamwhen the load ceases.

2. A suspending and releasing device as claimed in claim 1, comprisingmanually operated means for disengaging at least one of the supportingmembers from the beam.

3. A suspending and releasing device as claimed in claim 1, comprising ashoe, a horizontal axis pivotally securing said shoe to the lifeboat,horizontal pivot pins mounted on said shoe at right angles with respectto said axis, said supporting arms being mounted on said pivot pins.

4. A suspending and releasing apparatus for heavy loads comprising twodevices as claimed in claim 1, traction members connecting the beam ofeach device to one supporting member of the other device and releasablecoupling means mounted in said traction members.

5. A suspending and releasing apparatus for heavy loads such aslifeboats, comprising two devices as claimed in claim 1, a tractionmember connected to a supporting member of one device, a coupling memberslidably mounted in the lifeboat and connected to said traction member,ahook pivotally mounted on said coupling member, a second traction memberattached to the beam of the other device, a loop formed at the end ofsaid second traction member and engaging said hook, and a guide membermounted in the lifeboat and maintaining said hook in a loop-retainingposition when said coupling member is in its normal position, butliberating said hook so as to liberate the loop When said couplingmember is displaced from its normal position.

HENRI DUDOUIT.

